


Sangria

by masquerade97



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angst, Coda, Episode: s02e08 Love is a Devil, M/M, Some Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-22
Updated: 2017-02-22
Packaged: 2018-09-26 05:35:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9867419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masquerade97/pseuds/masquerade97
Summary: Of all the ways for Magnus' morning to go, this was not what he had expected.





	

Magnus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose when the last of the Shadowhunters left. He leaned against the door and surveyed the damage to his loft. Thankfully it didn’t look too bad – nothing a little magic couldn’t fix.

He stepped away from the door and with a wave of his hand he righted the lamps and got rid of the worst of the damage and what was left from the party. It took a bit more concentration to get rid of the missing chunks of bricks, but they too were repaired in a flash.

“Shadowhunters,” Magnus muttered, surveying the loft. “How do I keep getting myself into these situations?” He made his way over to where the bar was still set up and poured himself a Sangria. With one last glance around the loft and a check of the wards, he made his way back to his room.

The next morning, Magnus woke just after dawn from a nightmare; clear as day, he saw Alec fall from the rooftop before he had time to stop it. In the few seconds before he was fully aware of the fact that it had been a dream, he had his phone in his hand and was about to call Izzy in a panic. He was just about to press call when his mind caught up to him and he let out a shaky breath. “Just a dream, Magnus,” he told himself. So Alec was still okay.

Magnus shook his head and swung himself out of bed as his brain reoriented himself. He idly wondered how Max’s rune ceremony had gone – hopefully better than the party the night before. The thought drove him to have another glass of Sangria with his breakfast.

When a knock sounded at the door, Magnus ignored it; it was far too early to deal with other people, and he needed some time to recover from the night before. Only when the knock sounded again did Magnus go to answer the door.

He was surprised to find Maryse at his door, still dressed up – presumably from the rune ceremony.

“Maryse,” Magnus said, trying to hide his surprise behind a pleasant look. Unfortunately, he was out of pleasant looks at the moment.

“Magnus,” Maryse said, her gaze falling on the glass in his hand. “Isn’t it a little early for drinks?”

Magnus didn’t miss the distaste in her tone. His jaw tightened. _You did say I like to drink_ , he wanted to say, but he decided he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked instead. He made no move to invite her in, and he could tell she noticed.

“I wanted to apologize,” Maryse said, folding her hands in front of herself and lifting her chin as if she expected him to retaliate.

Magnus just blinked at her. He must be hallucinating if he’d just heard Maryse Lightwood say she _wanted_ to _apologize_. “If Alec put you up to it-”

“No, Magnus,” Maryse said forcefully. “Alec didn’t put me up to it. Alec doesn’t know I’m here.” She took a deep breath and pulled herself together with visible effort. “I’m sorry. For the way I treated you.” She shook her head, but she was still stiff. “It was kind of you to host the party for us. I should not have given you such a hard time about it.”

Magnus studied her for a second, half convinced this was a joke, pretty sure he was hallucinating. “You’re serious,” he finally decided, eyes narrow.

Maryse gave a curt nod. “It will take some…getting used to,” she said stiffly, “but I saw the way Alec looked at you-”

“Looked at me?” Magnus asked. Now he was sure she was messing with him. He almost closed the door and went back to bed to see if he’d wake up.

“Yes,” Maryse said. There was a tightness to her lips, but she looked like she was trying to fight it. “When you gave Max his gift.” She wrung her hands together, and Magnus was sure he’d never seen her look so uncomfortable, and some part of him relished it; served her right.

“Forgive me if I didn’t notice,” Magnus said sweetly. “How exactly did he look at me?”

Maryse shifted and for half a second Magnus thought she might actually answer him. “I apologize for being so unpleasant last night,” she said instead. “The party was lovely.”

“Thank you,” Magnus replied, still studying the Shadowhunter in front of him. Part of him still believed Alec might be behind this; he couldn’t think of another reason she might refer to the mess last night as “lovely.”

No, on second thought, he could. He threw damn good parties. It was when others tried to crash them that the parties turned south.

“This is still new to me,” Maryse continued abruptly. She didn’t need to clarify. “I will try to be better to you.”

“Try?” Magnus asked skeptically. He’d heard that from more than one Shadowhunter – for several different reasons. Oddly enough, they had a habit of not following through.

“I will be better, for both of you,” Maryse amended, conviction in her voice. She took a step forward, and her gaze took on a threatening look that Magnus was more used to seeing from Shadowhunters. “But if you do anything to hurt my son-”

“Mrs. Lightwood,” Magnus interrupted. He could tell she didn’t like to be cut-off, but he’d already gotten similar speeches from Izzy and Jace and he wasn’t in the mood to hear it again. “Rest assured that your son will come to no harm as far as I’m concerned.”

Maryse eyed the drink in his hand skeptically, but said nothing further on the subject. “Yes, well. I should be getting back to Idris.”

“I understand,” Magnus said. He saw a change in her face that was gone so quickly that he didn’t have time to read what it might have meant.

“Good day Magnus,” Maryse said. She turned and strode down the hall with the same tension and purpose Magnus had come to expect from her.

“Huh,” Magnus said to himself, taking another sip of his drink as he closed the door. Of all the things that could have happened to him that morning, he had to admit that Maryse Lightwood apologizing was not anything he would have expected.

Just as Magnus pushed off the door to make himself breakfast, there was another knock. With a sigh, he turned and opened it again.

“Alexander?” he asked in surprise. Alec at least wasn’t as dressed up as his mother; he’d changed into his gear instead of his dress clothes. “You know your mother was just here.”

“Yeah, I saw her in the hallway,” Alec said, brow furrowed. “What was that about?”

“She apologized,” Magnus said, still not quite able to believe it himself, “for her behavior last night.”

Alec drew back and looked down the empty hall and back at Magnus. “Really?”

“That was my reaction.” Magnus took a step to the side and gestured for Alec to enter. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I just wanted to – are you drinking already?” Alec glanced down at the glass in Magnus’ hand with a quizzical look.

Magnus shrugged as he closed the door. “I had it before your mother showed up, if it makes you feel any better,” he said, taking another sip.

Alec looked like he wanted to comment, but he didn’t mention it. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay, after last night,” he said.

One side of Magnus’ mouth turned up in a small smile. “Aside from Valentine now having my book, I’m not bad,” he said, electing not to bring up his rude awakening that morning.

“Max loved it, just so you know,” Alec said. He was smiling now, more relaxed than he usually was.

“That is what’s important,” Magnus said. At least that had gone well. “How was his rune ceremony this morning?”

“It was great. He didn’t even flinch,” Alec said proudly.

Magnus smiled at the pride on Alec’s face. So, the youngest Lightwood was finally a full-blown Shadowhunter. “Why don’t you tell me about it over breakfast?”

Alec started to make an excuse, but he still followed Magnus to the kitchen, making no move to leave. Instead he started talking about the events of the morning, starting with Max’s rune ceremony. It sounded to Magnus like Alec was leaving details out, but he wasn’t going to press for information Alec wasn’t willing to give; he didn’t want to have another run-in with Maryse about _personal_ family business, no matter how hard Maryse said she was going to try.

“What about you?” Alec asked when it seemed he’d reached a stopping point. “Anything exciting happen after we left?”

Magnus was glad he wasn’t full-on drunk, because he might have said something stupid. “Just your mother turning up to offer an apology,” he said with a shrug. “She also promised to be better to me.” At the surprised look from Alec, he added, “Her words, not mine.”

“Really?” Alec asked. He leaned forward conspiratorially and asked in his most serious voice, “Are you sure it was actually her?”

Magnus chuckled. “As far as I could tell, there were no glamors or spells or alcohol involved,” he said, raising his glass in a mock toast. It was almost empty by now, but he didn’t bother going to refill it.

“Wow,” Alec said, leaning back in his chair. “Did she give a reason?”

Magnus couldn’t help the smile on his face. “She said she saw how you looked at me.” He was pleased to see Alec turn a shade of pink.

“What?”

“Yes, apparently when I gave Max his gift, she caught on to how you were looking at me,” Magnus said. His brow creased thoughtfully. “She refused to elaborate.”

Suddenly Alec seemed very interested in the plate in front of him.

“Come now, Alexander,” Magnus said, his expression softening. “It’s sweet.” He reached a hand across the table and smiled when Alec took it. “And I’m sure the only reason she didn’t catch me looking at you was because she was doing her damnedest to ignore me.”

Alec glanced up and met Magnus’ gaze. “You…what?”

Magnus shrugged. “Whether you believe it or not, you’re not difficult to look at.”

Alec snorted a laugh. “Thanks.”

“I mean it.”

Alec smiled slightly and shifted in his seat. “Yeah, well, you’re not so bad yourself.”

Magnus tried to cover his laugh, he really did, but there was something about the way Alec said it that he couldn’t help but react to. “Thank you,” he managed.

“Okay I get it,” Alec said. His expression was somewhere between amused and uncomfortable. “You don’t need to make fun of me.”

“Make fun of you?” Magnus asked. “I’m not making fun of you.”

“You’re laughing at me.”

“Because you’re adorable, not because you’re ridiculous.” Magnus squeezed Alec’s hand reassuringly. “I’ve no reason to make fun of you.”

Alec managed a smile, but Magnus caught the effort that went into it.

“Are you okay?” Magnus asked, studying Alec’s face. He looked more tired, now that Magnus had a good look at him, and his face was tight around his eyes, not allowing for much expression.

Alec shifted under the scrutiny. “I’m fine.”

Magnus’ eyes narrowed. “No, you aren’t,” he said. The way Alec refused to look at him only confirmed his suspicions. “Is this about your mother?”

Alec shook his head. He took his hand back so he could run it through his hair. “It’s not important.”

“Alexander,” Magnus said seriously. “What’s bothering you?”

For a moment, Alec looked like he was still going to avoid answering the question, but he finally said, “It’s just the spell last night. Don’t worry about it.”

“What about the spell?” Magnus asked, immediately leaning forward. There shouldn’t have been any lasting effects, unless he’d missed something and hadn’t fully gotten rid of it.

When Alec didn’t answer, Magnus stood and made his way around the table so he could kneel beside the Shadowhunter. “Please tell me. I want to help.” Anything that would lead to Alec trying to jump off a building was something Magnus wanted far away from them.

Alec shifted again, but said, “It was what Clary said. Or what I heard her say.”

Magnus rested a hand on Alec’s arm. “What did you hear?” he asked gently.

“That she blamed me for killing her mom,” Alec said. He was staring at the table in front of him, refusing to look anywhere else.

“That wasn’t your fault,” Magnus said.

“But it was,” Alec said, his hands balled into fists. “I’m supposed to kill demons. I should have been able to stop it.”

“No,” Magnus said. “There was nothing you could have done.”

“We knew there was a demon in the Institute,” Alec said. “I should have-” He broke off, his jaw clamped shut.

Magnus squeezed his arm reassuringly, wondering what he could say. “Clary doesn’t blame you,” he started.

“It doesn’t _matter_ ,” Alec said forcefully, turning so he could face Magnus fully. “It was _my fault_.”

“No, Alexander,” Magnus said. He didn’t flinch at Alec’s aggressive posture, didn’t back down. He knew that if he gave in even a little bit, he’d never get Alec back from this. “No one is responsible for what demons do when they’re wearing your skin. It wasn’t you.”

“But I could have-”

“No, you couldn’t.”

“This is what we _train_ for, Magnus,” Alec said.

“And when they train you how to fight off the demon possessing you, I’ll blame you,” Magnus said. “There is _nothing_ you could have done. A demon possessing people within the Institute is not something you could have prepared for.”

They sat like that for a minute or so, neither of them backing down until Alec deflated, his gaze falling to Magnus’ hand on his arm. Magnus removed his hand, worried that he’d overstepped somehow.

“Thank you,” Alec said quietly.

“You don’t have to believe me,” Magnus said, catching on something in Alec’s voice. “But you are not responsible, and you are not a bad Shadowhunter.”

Alec was quiet another moment. “You really believe that?”

“Of course I do,” Magnus said, relieved when Alec finally looked at him again. Alec at least looked like he felt a little better, whether or not he believed it was his fault.

“Enough for both of us?” Alec asked.

“You took out a gang of demons by yourself not a week ago, and you don’t believe you’re a good Shadowhunter?” Magnus asked, smiling when he noticed the pleased look on Alec’s face when he ducked his head. “What are you doing today?”

Alec shrugged and looked up again. “Keep trying to track down Valentine?” he guessed. “With what we know about him and the Sword…”

Right. Magnus had managed to almost forget about that detail. “Then I guess I shouldn’t keep you any longer,” he said, pushing himself to his feet.

As if on cue, Alec’s phone went off, showing the Shadowhunter rune on its screen. Alec sighed and stood. “Duty calls,” he said.

“Just keep away from high places,” Magnus said as he led Alec to the door. He tried to pass it off light-heartedly, but he caught a look on Alec’s face that said he saw right through it.

“I will,” Alec said. “And I’ll talk to you as soon as I get a chance.”

**Author's Note:**

> look, someone's gotta acknowledge the fact that Alec legit almost jumped off a building


End file.
